Women shine at Manufacturing Hall of Fame awards

29 May, 2018

Three accomplished women have taken centre stage at this year’s Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame Awards.

Minister for Industry and Employment Ben Carroll presented the inaugural Woman Manufacturer of the Year award to Vanessa Kearney from Viva Energy and Jill Walsh from Actco Pickering Metal Industries at the awards last night. The Young Manufacturer of the Year Award was taken out by another female trailblazer, Vanessa Katsanevakis, who won the award for her leadership at Sussex Taps. Vanessa guided the business through a major rebrand and a period of exponential growth.

The Hall of Fame Gala Dinner, held at Crown Palladium, was attended by hundreds of industry stakeholders, and recognised outstanding manufacturing businesses and individuals.The Manufacturer of the Year (Large Business) was awarded to Bosch Australia, while Siemens took out the new Leader in Industry 4.0 award and PACCAR Australia was awarded the 2018 Leader in Workforce Skills Development.

A number of other companies were also recognised with awards for excellence in some of Victoria’s key growth sectors, including:

Creature Technology – Medium Business

Osteon Medical – Small Business

Entegra Signature Structures – Construction Technologies

Albins Performance Transmissions – Defence Technologies

Chobani – Food and Fibre

Leica Biosystems – Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals

Keppel Prince – New Energy Technologies

Bombardier Transportation Australia – Transport Technologies

Boeing – Company Hall of Fame Inductee

Victoria’s manufacturing industry contributes $27.7 billion to the Victorian economy, with more than 13,000 businesses employing more than 286,000 people. Victoria exported $18.16 billion of manufactured goods in 2016-17.

Victorian Government has committed over $120 million in manufacturing support, creating over 6,000 jobs and driving more than $1.6 billion in private investment. View the Advanced Manufacturing Statement here for more information.

Click here for the full list of winners and finalists at the 2018 Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame Awards.